


Light

by Childerolande



Series: Catch as Catch Can [2]
Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: F/M, Light BDSM, Written while drinking an entire bottle of wine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:55:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28208667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Childerolande/pseuds/Childerolande
Summary: Why would they bother? I'm a tool to them.... maybe I can try to be a good one.[I take fic requests. Send them to Childerolande#8683 on Discord.]
Relationships: Kaito | Kite & Neferpitou (Hunter X Hunter), Kaito | Kite/Neferpitou (Hunter X Hunter)
Series: Catch as Catch Can [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1987282
Comments: 32
Kudos: 43





	1. Chapter 1

"You can't be thinking of keeping him, can you?"  
These words, said in a clipped, snotty accent stopped Neferpitou in their tracks. They fought to keep their mind blank, building an invisible fortress to surround their thoughts. Counted back from 10. Wrestled their face back into a smooth mask. 

Shaiapouf had been hatched only a short time, yet he had grown on Neferpitou's nerves quickly; the underhanded and cunning nature he bore disturbed them. Neferpitou twitched an ear, casting a glance over their shoulder at the speaker. "What contrived nonsense are you buzzing about meow?" The words carried confidence, but Neferpitou knew their eyes were bright and furious with curiosity.  
Shaiapouf stood almost a dozen feet away, yet it would be obvious to the blind how much Pitou's response had rankled him. He had obviously hoped for a more charged response.... was seeking something in Neferpitou's reply. They stood for a moment as though enemies; Shaiapouf's lean and leggy body held high and haughtily, Pitou the image of a panther taut to pounce. The air grew stale with tension, goodwill stretching thin as paper, until the antennaed royal guard spoke. "The human man, Neferpitou" Pouf said " The tube in your lab is empty. If the experiment had failed we would have heard you wailing all over the place about it." A snide smirk unfurled itself across the taller guards' face, lips twitching in his amusement. "If you're keeping him somewhere as a toy, don't bother. We're short on food and in need of nen users. Either send him to Cook or make him a puppet, I don't care which. " Pouf punctuated these thoughts with a flare of his fingertips, admiring his buffed nails in the dim cave light.  
Pitou's irises narrowed to needles and they crushed their claws against the skin of their palm; the sharp dart of pain a reminder to keep composure. Yes, they liked the human man, appreciated his power; yet Neferpitou had no clue why the subject of killing him bothered them so much. It was simple mathematics; he was a human and humans were food or puppets. Why would Kite be any different? There was no logical reason for it, no data nor numerical answers, yet Neferpitou knew that he was different. The fact that they could not explain why had driven them to near madness in the days before; the same question leading them to tirelessly pace about their rooms. The answer still eluded them, but Shaiapouf's tone raised new questions, new concerns; a thin needle of fear pierced Pitous stomach, worked it's way up their throat.  
Pitou let their neck lazily flop back over their shoulder, regarding Shaiapouf with a sideways glance that reeked of venom. "If you think you can tell me what to do, Pouf, why don't mew just come over here and make me?" The words dripped with challenge and Neferpitou waited just a moment to see if there would be a response. They were the stronger of the two, both Neferpitou and Shaiapouf knew it to be true. Pouf's face contorted, mouth pulling down into a frown so exaggerated it could have been comical; yet there was no movement. Marking a silent point to victory, Neferpitou righted themselves and strode out of the room; a wave casually tossed back. 

They waited until they were around the corner, away from prying eyes, to drop the veil of nonchalance. Neferpitou ground their heels into the dirt, sucking in deep breaths, chest heaving.  
_A puppet? I can't!_  
_Food? I'd kill them all first, queen included._  
It would be only a matter of time before Shaiapouf would find Neferpitou's toy. Pitou knew him well enough to know that he would take joy in shattering the human if he found Kite; would play with him and break him for the sole purpose of doing so. He would find a joy in desecrating the human, would do so only to bite at Neferpitou's nerves. Neferpitou thought of how Pouf might leave Kite, draped somewhere.... desecrated and broken, and Pitou felt the pit of their stomach flip. It would be a fight against time now to find a solution.... Luckily, the butterfly was far too haughty to ever ask a question of a scrub ant, he wouldn't even think to ask where Neferpitou would be hiding him. That luck wouldn't hold long, but it could certainly buy them some time.  
Pitou trapped one clawed finger between their teeth, grinding fangs over armored flesh. I don't want to lose his intelligence. It's the only thing that makes him..... different. Perhaps I could convince him to fight the humans?  
Neferpitou couldn't even entertain the thought, it was so ridiculous. Humans could be turned against each other, certainly. Hell, the things humans wouldn't do to each other was sure to be a short list, based on what they had seen already in the holding cells. Yet Kite was again, different; had thrown his life away to protect Neferpitou, much less had sacrificed life and limb for the two humans he had travelled with.  
Grinding their teeth together against the barreling screech that threatened to bellow forth, Pitou turned and rent their claws through one of the stalagmites that highlighted the halls. It took barely an ounce of effort, but it was blown apart as though by a bomb; bits of stone and dust skittering down the hall and into the darkness. Bloodlust was screaming through Neferpitou's limbs, yet they would not, could not afford Shaiapouf the pleasure of hearing them throw a tantrum. Instead, Neferpitou stalked through the ant colony, turning direct right angles, limbs tight with rage; until they reached a window. Leapt to stare from it, breeze casting white locks along in the night.  
_I'll hunt and clear my head. Then I'll settle this._  
With this final thought, Neferpitou leapt, kicking off from the rough bio-clay surface of the anthill to shoot through the night air. The air was crisp, bright and clean, lending thousands of smells and scuttling sounds, the comings and goings of millions of mortal creatures. Stumbling. Falling. Getting up from the muck to pursue finite mortal lives with mortal concerns. The green of the landscape was dizzying; a pine so bright in smell and color that it seemed to shout the passage of Pitou's prey.  
Extending their claws, Neferpitou descended upon the forest floor.

........ 

Hours later, Pitou sat breathless against the great expanse of an oak tree. The forest was silent and dark, the only movement the barest flickers of fireflies and moths. The scent of gore was low and heavy; a thick iron-frought scent that clotted even the sensitive nose of the cat-like royal guard. The stink sat low in the trees, a warning miasma that cloaked the earth; summoning the beetles, worms and flies like a bell. The bodies of prey were stacked high to toppling; all manner of creature lay splayed before them, flies already buzzing at their many clouded eyes.  
Neferpitou cleaned their claws on the soft green grass and wept. 

It wasn't enough.  
.............................................

It was days before they came to see him again. By then he'd already started to drift, to lose himself in the quiet and cold of the cavern. He had long since lost a perception of time and had instead found himself floating; ethereal and white like a cave fish. He and his team had discovered a new species of cave-salamanders once, locked underground for so many generations they had lost all pigment... skin and features white just as Kite's were. He wondered distantly if his eyes would turn the same milky-pale as the salamanders'; a species unaware of the sun and it's warmth. The creatures had died when Kite's team had taken them above ground, for study in the lab. Had simply wasted away in the light. 

He wondered if he would die too, once separated from this place. 

He turned that thought in deft, slender hands in time lost from time. Had worn the edges of the thought until it was as smooth as beached stone, when light returned to Purgatory. The light appeared suddenly in a harsh arch, flooding his prison as the door creaked open. Kite hissed, the rays falling across his eyes in a searing bar. Burning. Blinding. He was unable to focus but heard the faint tapping of footsteps, growing closer. He fought his eyes' newfound sensitivity; prying them open with a sheer force of will until he could just peek beneath his light lashes. The hard outline of a shadow, wavy hair topped by the sharp points of cat like ears, stood before him. The features were obscured by the harsh light from behind, but Kite would know that shadow anywhere.  
The faint scent of pine forest and saltwater drifted to him and he felt something warm stir in his belly.  
_Neferpitou!_  
The cat-creature had not visited, had not permitted him freed since their last meeting. No one had stopped to see him, offering no food, light, nor warmth. As the long days had melted past, he had heard the movement of many feet past the door of Purgatory, heard them all stumble and quicken as they moved past. He had wondered if he'd upset the cat-being, if he had earned their ire. He had held those anxieties and watched them grow; had nursed a heart that ached desperately, seeming to beat through the bones of his chest. His heart had seemed to grow in it's sorrows as the days stretched by, it's senses lost and warping with hunger and thirst. He had wanted only them, only the soft curls of their hair, their warm hands to calm him. He had known in his prison that it could not be.  
Yet here they were, in the armored flesh. 

Kite licked at dry lips, opened his mouth to call to the being that held him prisoner. A creaking groan escaped him, "KkkkrrrrrooooOAAA". He struggled to form a word, heard his voice hitch, gave up. 

Neferpitou continued to look at him, silent. They regarded each other this way a long time. 

Finally, Neferpitous' feet drew forward again, loafers clicking against the stone. They were silent, looming over him, eyes bright with that maroon and honey glare in the dark. Kite met their gaze, saw something there. Something hiding behind that warm color, studying him. He wondered what it was. It didn't seem to be anger, not the usual burning of fury that seemed to touch the creatures eyes. It was something more akin to fear, a look of fright peeking from behind those luminous eyes.... but that was ridiculous. It could not be. No creature was stronger than Neferpitou; no other being could possess an aura as intimidating. They could crush him. Had not done so purely on a whim.  
He searched their eyes again, found that whatever had been there was now long gone. Tucked away and behind. Hidden.  
Then, Neferpitou was kneeling, reaching behind Kite and where he sat, arms still drawn and bound to the wall behind him. He felt them fiddle with his bonds for a moment before his hands were free, flopping bloodless and numb to the stone. Useless. He grimaced, the impact of his hands on stone sending needles all the way up to his shoulders, the blood flow long disrupted now surging back. Leaning forward, he ground his teeth rogether, willing himself not to cry out with discomfort, waiting until he'd regained enough feeling to draw his hands into his lap. He would crush them to his chest, account the damage and then, he thought, he would sum up any fingers lost to bloodlessness privately. He would not be weak before his master, would not allow himself to be embarassed in such a way.  
He felt his right hand lift, felt his muscled arm defy gravity ; and he cracked an eye open. Neferpitou sat crouched before him, one of his large and pale hands held gingerly in theirs. They regarded him for a moment, eyes steely and bright, before they turned their attentions to his hands. Gently working hard fingers over his numb ones, massaging life and feeling back into the buzzing limbs. Their attention was warm yet distant, and Kite watched breathlessly as the cat creature carefully worked; their hands warm and welcome over his. Their touch was deft, medicinal and quick, yet he relished it. A warm pressure, attentions given only to him; a tenderness only afforded to he and his limbs. The thought filled him with warmth,set his bruised heart pumping at a pace that neared frantic. They sat that way for several minutes, feeling buzzing back bit by bit into his deadened limbs. When the silence between them grew to be too much, he peeked through locks of his long white hair for a look at his master, studying them. He found that their gaze was turned entirely to his hands, ruby eyes large and focused. He was surprised by how deep those eyes were, not just ruby and gold, but a hundred colors in between; crimson and fawn, coquelot and sienna, sunbeam and yarrow. Kite felt himself tip at the edges of those eyes again, as he had the first time, felt himself totter and decide for sturdiness. Then Neferpitou looked at him. 

Really looked at him.  
Kite was shocked to see that they were crying, faint tears just spilling from the edges of those enormous eyes. There was something there again, just out of reach and without name, a smolder in the pits of those ruby eyes. He felt himself tip again and this time, he was unable to right himself; he felt his heart pitch as he fell desperately forward....And then he was touching them. A simple touch, just fingertips brushing skin, the calloused tips of his fingers reaching out to swipe the trails of those tears away. It was the barest of contact, yet he felt the light crackle of electricity between them; arcing from their skin to his. The thought that it felt somehow right passed so quickly he scarcely had a chance to register it.

He was rewarded with a stinging slap that drew his breath from his body. Stars danced before his eyes and for a moment, he lost sense of time and space. As those same stars leapt through his vision, he felt his focus pool, wane, and then return. Found himself braced against the cave floor, blood dribbling from his lip. Stupid, Kite thought to himself, darting a tongue over copper tinged lips, Why would they want my filthy hands? He knew he should have expected it, yet he did not regret his audacity. It was shameful, but the sting of his cheek settled him, urging a rise from somewhere deep. His heart beat fast at the contact, regardless of how short, or how violent it had been. It had been a touch. It had been enough. Shame settled against him then, low and sleepy- soft like a quilt. It was long moments before the heat lessened and he gathered the courage to look back up, gaze shifting past the pooling blood from his lip. 

Neferpitou was weeping. Tears cascaded down their face and that plump lower lip wobbled as Pitou wept. The tears seemed to be coming too fast, too much, the cat creature still frozen, as though they had paused in time after delivering the blow to Kite. 

Kite did the only thing he could think to do. He reached up, pulling the creature into his arms. They fought him in what Kite knew was a half-hearted effort of yowling and biting, needle sharp teeth sinking through the tender flesh above his collarbone. Yet Kite continued, feeling eerily calm as he folded Neferpitou in his arms; circling his arms about their shoulders and pulling them to rest their cheek against his throat. It was a vulnerable position, he knew, yet it seemed worth it for the privilege of touching them. The warmth of their cheek was a comfort against him compared to the cold and solitude and Kite could feel their breath puffing against the crook of his neck. After a moment, Neferpitou's struggling lessened and the creature sat loose and spent against him; those big tears flowing over his throat and down his chest to cut tracks on his dirty skin. They said nothing for long moments, holding still until Kite's back grew stiff, yet he did not move, not daring to disrupt the moment. It took a long while, but Pitou's tears gradually lessened, the big wheezy breaths eventually smoothing back to almost normal. Kite had just a moment to think that this was probably Neferpitiou's first time experiencing this sort of sadness; reached up with one hand to smooth at their hair. Then Neferpitou was standing, pushing back from Kite's chest and ducking his hands; stepping away from him to compose and straighten their coat.  
...........................................................  
It was difficult to pretend that nothing had happened, yet Kite sensed that it was somehow unwise to speak of it. From where they marched beside him, tugging him along by loosely-tied bonds, Neferpitou's face was a mask of indifference. Lips pursed, eyebrows high and unbothered, there was no trace that they had been crying save the slight red rimming of their eyes. Kite was concerned, for what this meant for himself as well as for his captor; there were obviously larger things moving about in the ant colony; Kite wondered distantly what they could be.  
Kite's stomach let out an angry gurgle and a cramp shot straight through him, his vision going shades of grey. Kite lurched forward, catching his balance against the cave wall with one arm, a hand bracing himself against his knees. It had been days since he'd last eaten, days since he'd had anything for water besides the distant dripping of cave runoff. Kite didn't wait for his vision to clear, instead heaving himself back up with a grunt. His vision still obscured, he cautioned a touch to Pitou's shoulder, using it to lead him. He thought he could feel a change of attitude run through the cat creature, thought he must have imagined it.  
.............................................  
Kite was allowed to eat, then. Neferpitou watched him, tail flicking back and forth as the human picked and inspected his food. He had refused anything containing meat, and while Pitou wasn't surprised, the request was still a bit baffling. Meat was meat, regardless of species. Chimera ants regularly ate each other, the strong subduing and consuming the weaker of their kin.  
Strange he could grow so strong as such a picky man.  
The thought lingered there hours later, a general curiosity that nipped at Neferpitou's subconscious as they watched Kite fight.  
It was different, this training exercise, and Kite had noticed it at once. Pitou had seen curiousity lift his silver brows before they smoothed again. Despite this, Kite did everything Pitou asked. Straining, stretching and even summoning that hated clown. Neferpitou made mental notes, one claw worrying at their bottom lip.  
There had to be some way. He was strong. Intelligent. The thought of him doddering about as some sort of standard puppet made Neferpitou's skin crawl. They could make him special. Had to make him special.  
Neferpitou twitched an ear. Stood. Gave the next instructions.  
...................................  
It took a while to get the hang of it, but a few hours later, Kite was flitting back and forth, long hair whipping in the air. It had taken all of his faith, but he had sensed something needing in the cat creatures' voice.... a steely undertone that belied desperation. Neferpitou had needed this of him, had requested the experiment in a way that had told him all he needed to know; that if he did not give in of his own accord, Neferpitou would force him. He had sensed that that would hurt Pitou in some way. Had seen it in the twinge of their brows as they looked at him. 

And so he had aquiesced. 

The silver strings were uncomfortable at first, tugging him back and forth at the joints until he felt sure he would fall apart. Soon, however, he had learned to anticipate the movements that had rocketed him through the air.... Now, hours later, he found himself moving almost intinctively, tensing against the wires as they whipped him about, tugged his arms and legs in simulated combat. He was free to float, mentally at least, and he found himself watching his captor; his hooded eyes always moving to find them in the darkness of the cavern. They watched him with an intensity that was disconcerting, eyes roving over his body in a way that felt almost obscene. Kite blushed at the thought, mentally chiding himself at the idea.  
Why would they bother? I'm a tool to them.... maybe I can try to be a good one. 

\--------------------------------------------------------

When they returned to Purgatory, Kite felt his heart hit the cold hammer of panic.  
"What if they leave me again?" , he thought, "What if they leave and never come back?"  
He found his breath hitching in his chest and cast a look down to the smaller creature. Their petite frame was stiff, cherubic face catching the light in soft shadows. Kite found himself staring at the pale fullness of their lips, found a feverish pitch to his heart and he fought the urge to kiss them.  
They stood in silence for long moments. 

.......

"Stupid, stupid, STUPID" Neferpitou chided themselves, a thin tongue of rage casting itself along their spine. They felt the urge to rend everything to the ground. Shaiapouf, their castle of dust, the enire world, human race alongside it. Neferpitou clenched a hard fist, claws biting painfully into their palm.  
They would let the entire world fall, would aid it's crumbling. The only being beside them would be the pale man; pliant, giving, beautiful..  
Shooting out their hand to clench at the long strands of white hair in the dark, Neferpitou pulled Kite down by his locks; wrenching his face to theirs. They felt the man's mouth form a surprised "o" as Neferpitou crushed their lips against his, fangs clicking against white teeth. The cat creature held the kiss a long moment, savoring the warmth of the mans' lips against theirs until they felt him return it. Felt the man deepen the kiss like a starving creature, lips opening wide, surging forward to draw Neferpitou closer. A moan reverberated between them, Kite's breath light and fevered as he gently traced his tongue along theirs. Pitou felt strong hands overlap their waist, muscled arms snaking around them in the dark to pull them in to a needy embrace. Pitou hadn't thought that he would be strong, yet here they were; being crushed pleasantly against the tall human man. Neferpitou felt their chest touch his, those arms holding them tightly, one big hand gently trailing up their back to deepen their kiss. White hair formed a screen against the world, obscuring everything but their view of each other.  
Kite pulled away first, pressing another small, chaste kiss against Neferpitou's top lip as he drew away; only to touch his forehead against theirs. Deep brown eyes looked into theirs and Neferpitou found themselves noticing for the first time how pretty his eyes were. Deep russet brown, ringed with the lightest threads of gold that seemed to catch the light in haloes around his irises. The lightest of freckles dotted the skin beneath those eyes, disrupted by the thick scarred threads of Neferpitou's repair work. Those threads were so ugly, all uneven knotted scars marring the delicate plane of his face. Neferpitou traced these threads, heart suddenly so heavy, kicking low and strangled by some mix of guilt and wanting. Not knowing what else to do, Neferpitou raised that clawed hand from where they danced circles over the scars, moving instead to clutch against the back of the mans head, fingers nestling in the long locks that fell past his strong shoulders. They pulled Kite into another kiss, not knowing the words to say what they felt, not knowing what they felt at all. Yet somehow kissing him felt right, felt needed. Neferpitou drew the fingers of their other hand over the mans neck and up, tracing his jawline with the tip of their claw. An appreciative moan slipped from Kite's lips, a hum that jostled something warm in Neferpitou's chest. They fought the feeling, the warm surge of something sweet and heavy, instead needling their fangs into the human mans' tender lips. Pitou felt his breath hitch, warm in her throat, closely followed by that familiar coppered tang.  
Neferpitou pulled themselves from the kiss, one hand firmly wrapped in the humans' hair, the other reaching up to gently clasp at his cheek.  
They regarded each other. 

\--------

"No...." Kite thought, his mind swimming languidly in the warm taste of the cat creature. "I'll be good, please, don't stop!" Yet despite his mental protests, he found himself wrenched from their kiss.  
They were warm in his arms, body held closely to his, the hard angles of his lean body meeting the slender curve of theirs. Yet those honey and maroon eyes watched him, warm and bright and dangerous in the dark. Kite was lost in them, scarcely registered the thin trickles of blood and saliva that beaded from his thin lips. They were beautiful and wanting, whether to love him or to possess him he did not know. Despite this, he knew he would give them everything; could and would fall to any sword just to feel their touch again. To feel the cool touch of their hands against the knotted scars that crossed him, the scars that had heralded him as something else. Someone new. He didn't know if anyone else would love him again; Hell if they even could. Ging, Gon, Spinner and the others.... if they saw him as he was now; a shadow of cowardice, rendered hideous by his own failures.... They would no longer see him as the Kite he had created. They would see him as he was. The thought terrified him, made him long for Neferpitou's embrace; a creature who could look at him without revulsion. A creature who could tolerate his selfish, cowardly love.  
He didn't realize he'd fallen to his knees until he felt the sharp sting of the rocks beneath him; gangly knees ground against the dust, bare feet against his long thighs. His arms hung loose, knuckles falling to scrape the dust and stone. He was still lost in those maroon eyes, his gaze fogged with lust and admiration.  
Neferpitou watched him, that dazed look forming into something of amusement, a few strands of his hair working through those clawed fingers.  
"Please...." He thought through the fog, "Please touch me again."  
He lifted shaking hands, placed them reverently against the sharp curve of the cat creatures' small waist. Asking without words for permission.  
Neferpitou didn't stop him, only continuing to play with his hair, one claw delicately caressing his cheek.  
Kite pressed his hands against Neferpitous' hips, feeling the thick cotton of their coat against his rough hands. His thumbs snuck beneath the hem of the cat-creatures' coat, lifting it in reverent millimetres until his fingers caressed Neferpitou's skin. It was just as he remembered, strangely hard yet smooth and warm. He pressed his fingers against their skin, splaying his hands to cover as much space as possible. He wanted to feel them, to study the soft inches of their body and convert it all to memory; the most beautiful statutes weak and ugly before the might of their cherubic beauty.  
Their waist was so small that he found he could encase it in his hands, his thumbs meeting at the delicate inclination of their belly button, middle fingers meeting at the curve of their spine. He moved his thumbs over their skin, drawing his hands down to feel the sharp hip bones, to touch the gentle curve of their ass, the callouses of his hands lighting gently over their silken skin. Ghosting over dimples and soft flesh. He hooked his thumbs over the waistband of their shorts and felt Neferpitou shiver. He glanced up to meet their eyes, only to find them regarding him. That soft and deadly look again, breath puffing lightly over smooth lips and sharp fangs. A blush burned to his face and that clawed hand swiped over it, caressing the harsh line of his cheekbone; slowed to brush at the faint freckles he had vainly tried to conceal with hats pulled low.The hand that had busied itself in his hair tightened it's grip, winding a hand through his locks; holding them as one would the reigns of an animal to be tamed.  
He pulled the waistband of their shorts down a few bare inches, exposing more warm flesh. His eyes still locked with theirs, he leaned forward, planting a kiss in the center of their toned belly, just above the line of their clothing. That hand in his hair tightened again and Kite took that as permission, tearing his eyes away from theirs to plant more light and needing kisses along their hips and belly. His lips touched everything, everywhere; lighting across the hardened skin and ghosting kisses as he went. Kite wanted to be known everywhere, for his lips to touch every inch of the cat creature, to claim them gently and resolutely. He pulled their shorts slowly as he went, revealing more, his eyes praising the reveal of body and skin until he reached their hairline. A few soft downy pubic hairs revealing themselves beneath the troublesome waistband.  
Kite looked back to his master for approval, eyes hungrily studying every inch of them. Up and up and up over their curves until his eyes met theirs again. He found them bright, curious and regarding him with interest. Neferpitou's eyes watched him, half lidded and needing, a blue blush barely visible along the curve of their nose. Kite's stomach pitched with warm desire and he felt his member stiffen against his jeans. Pitou's clawed fingers, the ones that had been delicately running circles along his cheekbones stopped. He felt their hand withdraw and hover, only to return and draw a soft line over his eyebrow, touch drawing tenderness and care. Kite sucked in a breath and darted forward hungrily. His lips drew a dozen kisses, more, over the creatures' soft pubic hairs, working down by the barest of inches as he tasted and praised the cat-creature. He felt them shiver and mewl against him, hips bucking up to meet his kisses as he travelled down, down. He teased, taking his time to admire everything, leaving light blue lovemarks across the span of their hips. The bucking of Pitou's hips increased, those hands nearly wrenching through his hair, needing, begging. He allowed himself a small smile before kissing them again; his tongue touching lightly against the soft flesh of their labia, a bare questioning contact, savoring their distant flavor of honey. In response, a light gasp, tinkling like the note of a bell rang through his prison. Both of Neferpitou's hands drew through his hair, bunching it back from his face, working his long locks restlessly between smooth hands. Kite sucked in a small breath and settled back to gaze again over Pitou, unable to help himself. They were beautiful, and they were allowing him, weak and human, to touch them. To see them. He studied the creature hungrily, every beautiful inch of them stretched before him. He gently kneaded his hands along their ass, rough fingers cupping goosebumped flesh, and leaned forward with agonizing, teasing slowness to finally taste them in full.  
The chimera ants' shorts hit the floor and Kite bent to taste at his master, his tongue drawing an impossibly slow line between the lips of their pussy, over the tight and aching pearl of their clit. Kite was gratified to feel Neferpitou shudder against him, another moan dancing through the air. He closed his eyes, felt his member throb painfully tight against his jeans as he returned to them; tongue touching Pitou lightly, delicately probing. Pitou was soft and sweet and oh-so-warm, her pussy welcoming him as his tongue lapped over the curves of their sex. His hands explored as he worked with his tongue; touching their hips, tracing the soft line of their spine, his hands neatly encapsulating the slender muscles of their thighs. He was rewarded by a tug at his hair that sent tears to his eyes. Surging forward with a growl, Kite lifted Pitou easily, lifting their slim legs to drape over his shoulders and braced their back gingerly against the pitted stone of the wall. Pitou responded by nipping roughly at the fingers of his hands, fangs skating over the skin of his knuckles and drawing beads of blood to roll and patter to the ground. They were all for him, then, open and lewd and wanting, guard broken only for him. He folded his large hands over their hips, rubbing his thumbs up and down against the soft skin there as he pushed deeper with his tongue, dancing circles over the beckoning flowers of their labia. He felt Neferpitou pushing against him, toes curling against his lower back as they let out more of those deep, mewling moans. The sound wracked through him and he lay the flat of his tongue against their clit, letting out another low hum as he did so. He could feel Neferpitou getting close, could feel their pussy spasm and tighten against him, more of that honeyed sweetness coating his tongue, dribbling down his lips and over his chin. The taste made him even harder, cock tenting uncomfortably tight against his jeans. He wanted so badly to be touched, to be held and stroked and seen that he moaned, low and wanting and desperate; even as he flicked his tongue against Neferpitou's clit. He felt them give way, felt them tighten and spasm recklessly against him, over his tongue; their hips bucking hard against him. He held them, running gentle hands over skin, tongue lapping gently, carrying their orgasm as far as it would go. Neferpitou's hands slackened where they were bundled in his hair; their brutish pull eased.  
PItou allowed Kite to guide them gently back to the floor of the cave, boneless and heavy-light with pleasure and exhaustion. He wished he had a shirt to lay beneath them, something to tuck over them to ward off the chill. He settled for nestling against the cat creature, the angles of their bodies sliding over each other to meet, to fit like puzzle pieces in the dim light. Neferpitou draped an arm over Kite's torso, settling their head against his chest, drawing him tight and close with their strength. The smell of their hair drafted up and Kite found himself reaching to gently brush their curls. Neferpitou purred, encouraging, and Kite raked his fingers gently through their hair, reverently brushing the dust and chips of earth from those bouncy white locks. Neferpitou nuzzled one warm cheek against his hand, looking up at him with lazy half-lidded eyes. Nearly ending him with the gaze of equal parts affection and posession. Those ruby eyes burned bright, the possessiveness there nearing malice; the gaze drawing his breath short. Pitou shifted forward to kiss him again, bumping noses as they hungrily peppered Kite's lips with kisses that grew more brutish until they were bruising, robbing him of breath.... and then it was over. Neferpitou withdrew, cheek sliding against Kite's chest, curls bouncing and tumbling to stop just at his belly. Neferpitou lay there, eyes somewhere between malice and mischief, touched by that same lazy gaze as before. They grinned and Kite's heart skipped a beat as Neferpitou's small tongue peeked from between their lips; Neferpitou turning to nestle their head into the warmth of his belly. They gazed up at him, teasing and coquettish, before swirling neat circles onto his skin with their tongue, tracing a burning line against the muscles of his abdomen. Kite's heart skipped a beat and he felt his member stiffen, resolutely fighting at the seam of his trousers as Neferpitou's tongue continued to trace those sticky-sweet trails across his body.  
Sensing his arousal, the cat creature smiled, bobbing to nip at him, leaving a bright red lovemark over a gaunt hipbone; a movement that caused Kite's breath to leave him in a hot rush. Neferpitou grew bolder, lifting themselves to straddle the human man,trapping his cock between them; Neferpitou's arms stretching to pin his shoulders to the cave floor. They covered him in kisses and bites, sucking and nipping at his skin until a line of fresh red welts covered him from hip to hip, trailing up his sides and across his chest; Neferpitou working up slowly to nibble at the skin of his collarbone. The attention, the presence of his master was quickly growing overwhelming and Kite found himself flushed, sweating and choking back moans as they claimed his ugly and twisted body, bit by bit. He moaned, struggling to form Neferpitou's name, low in the dark, repetitive as a prayer until their lips found his again; sharp teeth needling at already bruised lips. The contact was enough to make him gasp, to breathe their air into needing lungs. 

...............................  
He was so goddamn precious like that. Keening like a kitten, begging to be attended to, a bratty, frightened aura that drove Neferpitou wild. They wished to possess him, to needle and bite. To cover him in marks against suitors. Neferpitou let go of his shoulders, trailing light touches down his arms to his wrists; melding their fingers through his. With a sudden wicked rise of their tail, Neferpitou locked his hands against the floor and bit his bottom lip with brutish force. Kite bucked with the sudden flood of pain, a high keening croak rising from his throat. He looked at Neferpitou with big wounded eyes, softened with pain, overstimulation and wanting. Neferpitou released their cruel hold of Kite's lips, bending to needle again at the skin of his throat, working back down his chest; speed unbidden now, a mad and hot rush. A cacophony of cries and moans heralded Neferpitou's progress, yet Kite's hands were still claimed by theirs; crushed and helpless against the biting stone of the floor.  
The moans and cries of their captive drove that same too-hot feeling back through Neferpitou, lighting against their spine and rekindling the flame in their belly. They felt themselves dripping wet; thighs slickening. When they finally took Kite's length into their mouth, Neferpitou had just a moment to think. It was uncomfortable, a compromising, disquieting feeling of near-choking. Neferpitou leaned back, Kite's member sliding back over their lips, when the first shuddering moan stopped them. Kite's head was tossed back, fingers tightening against Neferpitou's in a hold that would be crushing if it weren't for the ants' superior strength. Neferpitou ran their tongue over the head of Kite's member, an experimental half-step in intimacy. Their efforts were rewarded immediately. Kite shuddered beneath them, toes curling against the stone, a tortured croak passing across swollen lips.  
That settled it. 

It was clumsy at first, Neferpitou working against Kite's length with kitten licks and the dedicated energy of a neophyte. Yet the increasing candor of the human mans' breath and the ragged croaks of his moans fueled them. Neferpitou pushed against him, finally taking his entire length in their mouth; lips pushing down down until they could feel the press of his member against the back of their throat. Kite responded with the tiniest of thrusts, a small and pitiful request for more. Neferpitou smiled, drawing back and tracing the length of Kite's cock with their tongue. Another moan echoed against the walls of the cave, Kite thrusting thin hips uselessly towards his master, begging for contact. Neferpitou leaned back, out of reach, savoring the way Kite's eyes regarded them; soft and hazy beneath long lashes. Neferpitou leaned forward, capturing Kite's bottom lip between their teeth again just to feel the rush of his breath; his hips spasming forward to try and meet Neferpitou's. Pitou let him lean for them, hovered just out of reach; watching those soft lips, kiss-bruised and full. Pitou hooked their thumb over Kite's lips, snagging his bottom teeth and tongue; pulling him back so that he could look at them again with those big, hooded eyes.  
Slowly, so slowly, Neferpitou lowered their hips over his, the head of Kite's member lightly brushing against the over-sensitive labia. The world after was a fog. Neferpitou could recall later only a distant flare of pain, and an overwhelming feeling of lust; creeping like red mist to cloud their memory. Neferpitou would recall the faint slapping of their thighs against their human preys', the distant huffing of Kite's breath in the dark. Neferpitou wished that they had allowed Kite his voice, only because they could hear the futile attempts of their name on his lips. Heard it repeated, ragged on his breath like a prayer.  
Later, as Neferpitou lay against the cold stone of the floor; nestled against the warmth of Kite's neck, they would blink fruitlessly against the stretching fingers of sleep.

When Neferpitou awoke in the light of the morning, they were cradled against him. They felt the slow rise and fall of the mans' chest, marveled at the life there. Protected, warm and vulnerable.  
They would protect him. They had to.


	2. Silence

Kite found that his mind wandered often these days; thoughts trailing through empty space as his body moved on it's own. He marvelled at how quickly he had grown to resemble an automaton during training, his mind free to wander as his body whipped back and forth on silver strings. The experience was breathtaking, a drive of flight unhindered by gravity, yet it had quickly grown boring as the weeks wore on, directed at Pitou's often manic pace. He sensed that the cat creature was bothered by something, their direction of Kite's fights often a punishing sprint that lasted for hours on end. Kite could see, during these hectic days, that Pitou seemed on edge, tail stiff and frizzled. He wondered what it could be that had rattled them so ; surely they weren't concerned at needing Kite's protection.... their strength was mammoth, far beyond that of any human. He'd chalked it up to some sort of internal politics amongst the ants, yet he wondered what that had to do with him? The thought had disturbed his sleep for weeks, needling at him in the cold dark of his cell. 

They were calling him back, Kite realized, a bare second after his body reacted on it's own, pulled back to earth by the strings that held him. His knees buckled as he reached the floor of the cavern, the silver bonds dissapating a moment before he reached the ground. The difficulty in adjusting to carrying his own weight had surprised him, an unexpected side-effect of Neferpitou's training regimen that left Kite feeling too-heavy and out of sorts. He shook his head to clear it of foggy thoughts and turned his attention to his captor. These training experiments had been going well, at least he thought they had, based on the smiles he caught curling along Neferpitou's lips. Pitou was pleased with their progress, at least, and he found that he could trust himself to that. They were intelligent, Kite knew, a talented scientist despite their hair-trigger temperament. Kite had decided to trust Pitou to steer him, at least for the time being.  
..................

Neferpitou didn't like the way the human man looked after training these days. He seemed distant, a fogged and languid expression settling upon his face when Terpischora plucked at the strings which held him. It took him a few moments to reconnect, but thankfully Kite was coming back fully to himself. Despite this, Pitou found themselves waiting with bated breath each time that foggy look settled on Kite's face, anxious that one day, it would not lift. Anxious he would go back to the blankness that had claimed him before. Time was still short, however, to prove to the other ants that the human was a worthwhile experiment.... valuable yet harmless. Bidden by the desperation Pitou felt, they had allowed their curiousity to uncoil itself during these training sessions, and Neferpitou had found themselves pushing at the extent of Terpischora's hold, had watched with sharp eyes as Kite slowly came back to his own control, intelligence settling in blank eyes like a sparked flame. He would always shake, would turn himself to their attention like a coddled puppy.  
It turned Pitou's heart to ash each time.  


It was all Shaiapouf's fault. The thinly veiled threats to Pitou's human quarry had lessened, yet not dissapated, instead falling into a teasing chase, a waltz of cruel implications and indirect malice. He had taken to waiting in areas of the cavern Pitou frequented and asking pointedly nonchalant questions of the humans' training. The interrogations were always distant, polite, yet it was obvious he had been watching somehow; keeping a tab on the training caves. The fact that Neferpitou hadn't yet sniffed him out while he watched them was a fact that distressed them deeply. They had been hesitant to let Kite be puppetted, even as a ruse to extend their time together, yet Pouf had forced their hand, cornering Neferpitou and their prized captive into an awkward dance of un-tender experiments. Pitou feared ever breaking the polite candor of their training, anxious to reveal more than they already had.  


Kite smiled at them, Pitou realized with a start, smiling in that way he had, the barest twinging of lips on a pallid face. It would be imperceptible to anyone else, save for them. They had studied his face enough, tracing the fine lines of it in the dark, to know every facet of him. Neferpitou's heart skipped a bare beat, before settling back into it's rhythm.  


They feared the future.  
When had that become their norm?  


The question followed them, worrying at the tips of already fraying nerves as Pitou went about their day. The question, the heralding fear of future, sat on slim shoulders as the pair of them ate; Pitou nibbling at their food as Kite looked on in concern. They had begun taking their meals in Kite's cell, Pitou bringing whatever could be scrounged. Eating together had started as a mere plot to save time; efficient and streamlined for a heavy day of work. It had quickly become something else, Pitou savoring the few peaceable moments it afforded them to spend together. Yet they were silent today, Pitou picking up on the concerned way that Kite's lips turned down into a frown.  
Pitou watched as Kite opened his lips to try and say something, silver eyebrows turning down as he remembered his loss of voice. The human scrounged for a twig, his intention to write the question in the dust and dirt that coated the floor of the cell. He found one, a small and bent twig hidden in the shadowed corners of the room and bent to the cell floor, scratching furiously.  
Pitou stood in a rush, planting their foot in the center of Kite's writing. Feigning indifference, the cat creature brushed at their coat and hair, averting their eyes away from the pale face that watched them in the dark. A question bloomed there, a glimmer of hurt and confusion in those almond eyes; and Pitou found that they had to look away.  


"We're done for today, so get some rest. I'll send for you in the morning."  


There was no response, not even a croak, as Neferpitou rattled the door of Kite's cell back into place. Pitou felt the burn of those eyes on them the entire walk back. Felt something like regret rise to their throat.


	3. Re-Birth

Pouf stood, watching in the dark. He had split himself, of course, and was currently monitoring the hive from many of his favorite vantage points. His eyes were everywhere, an aspect of his abilities that he had kept a secret. He had a distaste for Neferpitou, no... that wasn't quite right. He _respected_ Neferpitou, valued them as a fellow royal guard. Yet he had distaste for their weaknesses, the stooping, kneeling way that they cared for the human _thing_ in their charge. It filled Shaiapouf with disgust, the idea of a noble creature such as Pitou bowing so low as to care for the ugly and broken man in their charge.

Neferpitou was simply wrong, too blind to see their temporary weaknesses. He would fix that for them. He would show them what the royal guards could be, once freed from such earthly entanglements. They would stand together, a unit banded together by duty. They would crush humanity to dust, flying forward, a cloud of despair to honor none above their king.

He turned his attention to the hatching room, drawn to the barest of movement. One last cocoon hung, strung from the stalactites that dotted the high ceiling. Light, a sickly yellow green, filtered through the cocoons' structure, illuminating the bent figure within. Shaiapouf thought he saw something, some minute movement. He held his breath, watching. 

An arm moved, twitching inside the cocoon.

Pouf moved instantly, flying to meet his new companion, wings beating a manic pace through the tunnels. He bowled over officers and scrub ants alike in his rush, bodies flying to and fro as they were tossed about in his wake. The wind was cold and strong in the tunnels, blowing back Shaiapouf's hair in a honeyed tangle as he navigated the tight turns.

_Come on, Come on, I must get there first!_

He had to, had to recruit this new guard to his side, to make him an ally against the foolishness ongoing in the hive. He was not strong enough to stand on his own, could not band the team together with this weak body, yet with an ally; he had a chance.

Shaiapouf blew through the enormous door of the cavern, stopping just short of the cocoon. That same sickly light was still shining, murky and toxic in color, illuminating the figure inside. The figure was now churning, moving heavy limbs to and fro, fighting the trappings of the cocoon that held him. Shaiapouf watched as one rust red fist emerged through the green ooze, then another, tearing the structure.

The figure fell to the ground, a mess of red-furred legs and muscled limbs.

Pouf smiled. _This was an excellent development._


	4. Trouble

His captors' reticence disturbed Kite, so much so that despite the weariness that tugged at his bones, he could not rest. Instead, he sat awake, arms bound as always, but mind free to wander. He gathered his knees beneath the meagre blanket that had been distributed to him, a kindness he was sure few other prisoners enjoyed, and propped his chin on one knobby knee.

He wondered what had rattled Neferpitou; the fact that they seemed almost frightened was obvious, but _why?_ It was obvious that there was some sort of internal conflict going on behind the scenes; it was the only reasonable explanation....well, that or they were going to war sooner than he'd anticipated. Kite had his doubts on the latter option; the ants seemed to be waiting for their King to be born, as all other chimera ant colonies did. From what he and the others had seen out in the field, it seemed that they wouldn't be making any moves until that happened, instead investing only in defending their colony. Their queen would produce royal guards to protect the new hive until.....  
_Wait._  
_That's it!_

 _Maybe the other royal guards are giving Neferpitou trouble?_ Kite struggled to remember more of what he and his team had learned about chimera ants in past seasons, but couldn't summon anything noteworthy. Hell, they were just _ants_ back then! _If someone or something has Neferpitou that rankled, maybe it's another royal guard? The king hasn't been born yet and the queen seems to be a long ways off from giving orders, based on what I've heard.... seems like that could be the culprit. Either that, or maybe the Hunter Organization has sent out a rescue party?_ The idea of a rescue party failed to elicit any feelings of hope, however. He had fallen to Neferpitou easily, and unless Netero planned to send a team of Zodiacs and a horde of flying goddamn pigs, rescue was unlikely.

_A royal guard then, that's the most likely answer. What could they be fighting about, I wonder? Much less, what could frighten Neferpitou so?_

This question turned circles in Kites' mind, refusing him sleep as the hours wore on in the darkness of the cell, until finally, his eyes acted on their own, shuttering closed in the wee hours of the morning. There, uncomfortably propped, he slept.

He dreamed, as he usually did, of his travels with Ging. There were many things he'd rather forget, and thankfully his dreams had always complied. Tonight he dreamed again of a valley, the name long forgotten, where he and Ging had rested for a season. The grass had always been the peculiar, too-soft green of a floodplain; rich and cool and bright. There had been people there, too few to really want to know him and that had suited Kite just fine; he had been free to roam about, to fish and study the strange goats which seemed to walk on walls. Kite had been young then. Had known enough to view the world with sharp eyes, yet young enough to see more. To see _enough_. He wondered if he had stopped seeing the world with those eyes yet, and if so, when it had happened. Had it been a slow loss? He didn't know. He dreamed again of how soft the wind had been in the valley and found he didn't care to know more of loss.

A presence was waking him.

 _Pitou?_ Was his first thought, but he knew that was wrong almost as soon as the thought had formed. Not Pitou, something else. An aura was needling it's way through the bars at him, reaching for him, stretching to caress at him. Something heavy. Heavy and dire and carrying the stink of death so strong on it's heels that the hair along Kite's neck bristled. He opened his eyes, craning his neck to look through the bars, waiting for the inevitable approach of the creature. Seconds stretched in the silence, until..... It was heralded by a long shadow, trailing legs long enough to rival Kite's own. Twin lengths of what seemed to be a black cape fluttered along in the cold air of the cavern.

A man, or something like one, strode into view, stopping to lean on the bars of Kite's cell. The man looked at him and Kite felt himself freeze, a sense of terror free of Kite's control seizing his throat. He was not ugly, not by any stretch of the imagination; rather, he was impossibly handsome. The strangers' face was chiseled into a dagger-point chin, with lips thin and well formed in a natural pout. An artfully touseled mop of blonde hair swept over large, slanted eyes that Kite was certain must have been the envy of many a maiden. No, the man was not ugly, yet he was monstrous all the same. From those large eyes Kite could sense an oppressive malice; the mans' nen aura seemed to rise and crash in waves about the cell, stirred like a sea. _He must be another royal guard_ , Kite thought. An assumption he could safely make on bare aura alone.

The man glared at Kite with such a profound sense of hatred that Kite found himself wondering what he may have done to offend him. Rather than ask, Kite settled his eyes to meet those of the strangers' his lips forming a thin line. He waited. 

"Are you our Neferpitou's little plaything?" The man asked, after a pause which seemed to stretch forever. A smug grin teased at the edge of those pouted lips. "They _have_ been keeping you all to themself, haven't they?"  
"....." Came Kites' reply. 

"What a waste." Said the man, lips turning down into a frown that seemed to stretch too far. A few too-bright teeth were revealed and the sight turned Kite's stomach. "Youpi" the man shouted into the dark behind him. "Let's see if these little experiments have been worthwhile. We'll call it a _peer review._ "

At this, another figure joined the first at the door. Kite felt himself jump a bit; he hadn't even _sensed_ him, how could that be? Yet the figure was there all the same; tall and of rusted skin, muscle banded effortlessly along limbs which seemed to be a mis-matched homage to the Chimera Ant diet. The man, creature, _Youpi,_ grinned at him and Kite somehow managed to keep a steady facade, smoothing his face into an unreadable mask. All the same, however, he felt his heart drop like a stone. He had been right, there must be some sort of contention about his presence if these two creatures were here... he wondered if Neferpitou knew of their visit in advance.

He didn't have long to ponder that, as the next moment he was being hauled bodily along the cavern hall; the stranger and Youpi each looping an arm through his bounds and pulling him along, leaving his legs to drag along the stone of the cavern floor.

The two royal guards pushed aside the wide doors of the training room, tossing Kite with ease inside, where he landed unceremoniously on his ass with a hard _whump._ "Alright, let's see if Pitou is wasting our time." Said the blonde, hand on one slim hip. "I imagine if they're dedicating this much time to one little experiment it'd better be _spectacular_ , right, Youpi?" The muscled red creature merely grunted in response, kneeling on one furred knee to untie Kite's bonds. Kite wondered if Youpi was a deep well, or if this was the deepest level of intellect he'd be getting from Youpi. He found himself hoping the creature was as dim as he let on.

Kite's bonds fell away and he rubbed at his wrists, keeping an eye on the blonde stranger. The stare was mutual, the ant looking down at Kite past his long nose, regarding him as though _Kite_ were the bug here. The blonde clapped his well-manicured hands together, the sound sudden and loud as a gunshot in the silence of the cavern. "All right, let's get started." He said, a look of joy and malice flashing across those wide amber eyes. "Excellent" Said Youpi, voice deep as gravel, "I'll get him all warmed up for us!". Youpi was already stretching, craning his thick muscled neck to and fro and swinging his banded arms about. Kite stood, eyes locked on Youpi, a cold sweat prickling at his hairline. He was strong, that was certain; he had no idea how strong or if the creature even compared to Neferpitou.... it would be a blind battle; one Kite wasn't certain he could win. His fingers itched, but he hesitated in calling Crazy Slots; it didn't seem the time, there was more going on here, Kite just needed to figure out _what it might be._

Youpi stepped forward, too-wide smile splitting along his face; only to be stopped by that manicured hand, this time placed in a halting gesture on his shoulder. The blonde was still looking at Kite, sizing him up. "Not yet, Youpi, lets see those training exercises first, hmmm?" The tall, red one seemed miffed at that, eyebrows drawing together in something like a glare before he stepped back, crossing big arms across his barrel chest. "Fine, but Pouf I want first dibs." Youpi said, staring up at the ceiling and seeming to speak with no one in particular. The blonde, Pouf apparently, did not reply. Rather, he simply whistled, a high keening tone that echoed throughout the chamber. There was silence, and then the rushing feet of soldier ants through the training door.

Kite eyed the crowd as it filtered past, taking stock of the assortment of creatures that filtered in. There were far too many to keep tabs on, yet Kite felt the surge of nen poorly concealed amongst them. He may not be able to keep an eye on everyone, but he could at least pick out the nen users. Kite twitched his neck from side to side, swinging his arms to stretch the muscles of his shoulders and lamenting not for the first time the stiffness of sleeping on stone. Shifting his weight from foot to foot, Kite eyed Pouf, a silent challenge. It was bold, and as the chimera ant met his gaze, Kite felt the trickle of cold sweat bead its way down his back. He would be bold. He hoped he would not grow to regret it.


	5. Mistakes

The first wave came easy. Kite had weeks of practice on his side and the element of surprise; dispatching scrub ants with such ease he almost felt sorry. As though to interrupt the thought, he spun, delivering a devastating downwards kick with one long leg and watching the face of a runty ant, some sort of half-fish half-dog abomination, fracture and tear. Kite gritted his teeth against the spurt of hot blue blood that splattered over his face and neck. Burning him. Staining him. He didn't have time to feel sorry for the poor, wretched creature. One foot still firmly planted on the stone floor, he concentrated and leapt straight into the air, two scrub ants crashing into each other in a flurry of limbs where he had stood just a second before. _Not as high as with those strings... who knew I'd miss them_? Below him, the two ants were having trouble extricating themselves from one another, squabbling and shoving at one another instead. Kite was beginning to lose his upwards momentum, and with a deft backwards flip to encourage his downward movement, he rocketed back to earth, landing lightly on the back of one of the squabbling ants, shoving him face-first into the chest of the other and bowling them both over. He didn't stay long, couldn't really, as he quickly blocked an incoming fist from his right, the owners' arm heavy with muscle. He reached back and held the arm tightly, locking it with his, to the surprise of it's owner; a creature that seemed to be some eclectic mix of bird and ox-like traits. He watched surprise and rage contort a face that seemed to be made entirely of hard angles and bright feathers, before he jumped, placing his feet on the abdomen of the creature, and pulled, throwing the ant off balance and using his legs to kick it onto it's back in a flurry of feathers and horns.

Kite landed on his stomach and without thinking, quickly rolled to the right, insectoid arms chopping at the ground in his wake, chasing him, trying to separate some vital piece of him from his body. He was beginning to grow tired of this game.

_This isn't wise, but it'll happen sooner or later anyway. May as well show my hand while I still have the energy to back it up._ This was Kite's thought as he tumbled along the cavern floor, the many legs of his enemies stomping and kicking at him as he passed. He somersaulted forward and jumped, stepping lightly on the thigh of some creature that looked to be a sort of giant beetle. He didn't get a good look at it, as in short order, he planted one foot directly on it's face, using it as a springboard to leap again high into the air; pushing mammoth effort to leap as high as he could. The wind was cold on his face and his thighs protested at the strain, but when Kite turned in the air, he found that the training floor was far below him; a swarming mix of scores of ants all fighting to get to the center.

Kite summoned crazy slots, feeling the nen swell and form in his palm and the electric crackle of electricity zip along his fingertips. The clown appeared at his shoulder, all red hair and high cackling laugh.

"Guess we aren't dead right yet, are we?" The clown cried, tiny body heaving with mirth as it observed the chaotic scene below. A silently raised middle finger was the only reply Kite provided, his eyes still locked on the flurry of activity on the training floor. Most of the ants closest to the center had noticed he was gone and stood staring at the sky, watching him; however the outer rings were still a chaotic mess of shoving and fighting. Fighting to enter the ring, to earn the respect of the royal guards who stood watching from beyond the bounds of the training floor.

_Poor bastards will never know what hit them._

From it's place on his shoulder, Crazy Slots was rolling through his numbers, the high drrrrr of the slots nearly drowned by the chaos below. "TWO!" Crowed Crazy Slots, already disappearing in a flash of white light. _Not a bad spin, actually somewhat useful for the situation, I guess._ He had just a second to be mildly surprised at Crazy Slots' usefulness before the distant shape of his scythe formed in his right hand.

Not that he would ever tell Crazy Slots that, of course.

The ruckus far above had caught the attention of most of the Chimera Ants, and many of them had ceased fighting and pushing against each other, halting to stare at Kite, mouths hanging open. Kite had already begun to fall back to earth and with a desperate spin, he encouraged his momentum. _Maybe I can take out those royal guards, too._ Kite thought, catching the surprised faces of Pouf and Youpi as he spun. _They couldn't know what Silent Waltz' range is!_ That thought steeled him and he readied his grip on the snath of his scythe. Still spinning, he raised his weapon and fog bloomed along the training floor, obscuring the scene below.

This is it! Came the thought as Kite moved to strike, so close to the top trails of fog below. He kept his spin, _taking aim._

. .....................................

_When I see him, I'll apawlogize._ Thought Neferpitou as they readied themself for the day. _I'll explain everything, he deserves to know._

Shaiapouf was watching them, that much was clear; although how and why remained obscured in mystery. There was no chance that Shaiapouf was watching them in this way simply out of preservation of the colony; if it was, then he would have halted scrub ants from hoarding human prey and sport killing long ago. It was obvious that there was no concern for the ant queen having adequate nutrition, so then why? Pitou ruminated, tail whipping forth and back as they made their routine morning stops around the colony; swinging past Chef's kitchen to snag their morning meal. Chimera ants couldn't be called culinary experts, in fact, meatballs and the heavy, unleavened rolls Chef cheerfully called "bulwarks" pretty much ran the spectrum of chimera ant ability.... Nevertheless, the rolls, as heavy and bland as they may be, were at least vegetarian. Neferpitou sighed and snagged two from the prep table.

The _click-click_ of Pitou's loafers on the stone announced their approach and as they marched towards the prison ward, breakfast in hand, ants scattered to clear their path. _Is it that he thinks I'm weak?_ Pitou thought, one finger making it's way to work between their fangs. _Or is it simply that he likes to antagonize me? If that's it, why didn't he just kill Kite right away?!_ Neferpitou had no idea. The thought, the old earworm, had once again begun to run cycles in their thoughts; what if's chasing why not's until they felt nearly mad with it. This entire situation was an issue, one which Pitou couldn't yet see a resolution. The endless run of living days unknowing what the next would bring was an exhausting chase; one which Pitou was growing desperate to be free of.

Kite's cell was coming up closer and Pitou instinctively lowered the finger they'd been anxiously chewing as they rounded the corner to look into Kite's cell. Hand braced against the cavern wall, Neferpitou leaned against the bars as they did every morning, peering into the dark over to Kite's accustomed spot. Pitou's eyes skated over nothing more than a bare, gray wall where Kite's lean form usually sat. The blanket Kite had been afforded in the previous weeks lay crumpled upon the floor and the hooks on which his shackles usually hung were vacant. The cell was empty, bereft of all but traces of his scent.

Pitou dropped the breakfast rolls, bulwarks hitting the ground with a dull _whump_ , as the cat creature rushed to open the cell door. The heavy barred door swung open, stirring a breeze that whirled dust and dirt along the floor, yet there was no further movement. None at all. Pitou looked about and finding nothing, let out a yowl of frustration, the sharp knife of fear just skating along their spine.

_Kite!_

The word was a siren, wailing through Neferpitou's thoughts and blotting out all else in a red panic. Where could he have gone? Pitou thought, loafers skidding along stone as they rushed from the cell, casting a mad glance down the cavernous hall. _He wouldn't have left without telling me. I know he wouldn't! Which means that someone has taken him or..... No._ The alternative was too much to think about, too final. Neferpitou would fold away that thought, would pack away the finality of Kite being dead. They would not unpack it from where that fear lived, shut away in a box deep in their heart.

The list of creatures who would have the gall to take Neferpitou's quarry was remarkably short. Settling down onto all fours, Neferpitou sprinted down the hall. _I'll check the training room first,_ Pitou thought, claws biting through the grit and dust of the stone to push their body faster, lighter, down the hall; their mad sprint cooling into an efficient lightning-fast stride. _I'll check the training room first and if I don't find him; I will tear this place apart, brick by brick._ The thought was a vow, and in making it, Neferpitou felt themselves stiffen with their resolve. They would kill everyone. Every last one of them, if that's what it took. They would break bones and carapace alike, until no natural disaster could rival them.

Neferpitou rounded the last corner on all fours, skidding to a halt in a cloud of dust in the doorway of the training room.

Pitou's eyes widened as they looked beyond the door. A familiar flash of white hair spun and jumped, snaking through the air as long limbs rent through the scrub ants that surged onto the training floor. Kite was holding his own, easily and without nen, but Pitou could see the soldier ants fighting to reach him. He would have to use his.... _ah, there it is!_

Pitou watched as Kite sailed airborne, long legs casting thin shadows along the caverns' floor as he soared above, carried up by the force of his leap. It was a matter of miliseconds, but Pitou watched in awe as Kite summoned his weapon, a long and nasty looking scythe delivered with a stroke of white in the dim light. _I don't think I've seen this one purrfore,_ Neferpitou thought, ears twitching with interest. They watched, awestruck, as Kite rocketed back to earth. A thick plume of fog disrupted their attention, however. Thick, white clouds seemed to spring from the cavern floor, obscuring everything. The other ants began to panic, fighting against each other as they were lost in the mist. They spotted another ant and Pouf in the panic, both of them sharing wide-eyed looks.

Neferpitou watched Kite as he descended, watched as he spotted them; his big hooded eyes growing wide with what looked like terror. And then, _nothing_.

The ants continued to shout and scrabble, but Kite was nowhere to be seen, lost in the heavy fog. Pitou's stomach did a sick little flip-flop. Something's wrong. Neferpitou had never seen this move before, but they were certain this wasn't how it was supposed to go; something had happened to interrupt it.

That thought too, was interrupted as Kite finally appeared, speeding like a bullet and cutting just above the top of the cloaking fog, cutting a line straight to where Pouf and what Pitou could only assume was the final royal guard stood.

_He'll be killed!_ Neferpitou's eyes widened in alarm, and without a second thought, they leapt forward. They needed to help him, to shield him somehow. He wouldn't understand how strong Pouf and the royal guards were, had no hope of defeating them on his own! Pitou leapt deftly among the scrub ants, cutting a swath through the rising mist, hoping to catch Kite, who was just approaching rust-red guard. Pitou watched as Kite raised the scythe and brought it down in a rough, chopping stroke over muscular guards shoulder, Kite coming in close to the ants body with his momentum. They had time to watch a grin break out across that red face before the skin of his body burbled and moved, producing two more arms. One of these new thickly muscled hands caught the blade of the scythe and held it, paying no attention to the rivulets of cobalt blood freed from the skin of that hand; the other deftly moved forward, fingers together towards the human man.

Pitou landed just in time to see Kite spin to the left, avoiding the worst of this savage attack, a blow surely meant to tear straight through the mans' neck. However, he did not escape unscathed, the ants hardened hand tearing a jagged hole through the side of Kite's throat. Blood, dark red and burning hot, splattered against the royal guards' face and Neferpitou felt it splash across the navy chest of their coat. Kite coughed, splashing more thick rivers of blood along the training floor before steeling himself. The hole in his throat was devastating; a jagged crater straight through and roughly the size of a baseball; Neferpitou, eyes sharp with shock watched as the arteries of the humans' throat worked overtime, spritzing Kite's white hair until it was a sheaf of maroon in the dust and dim light of the cavern. Kite's mouth hung open, and blood dripped freely over his bottom teeth, painting them a devastating candy-apple red. Kite gritted red teeth and wrenched his scythe skywards, his efforts rewarded with the sick sputter of steel through flesh. The rust red hand that had held the scythe with was now flopped uselessly on the cavern floor, severed from his body.

Neferpitou leapt forward to catch the human, but was rebuffed. Kite, wheezing and choking moved back, placing himself between Neferpitou and the other royal guards. Another movement, caught in slow motion by Pitou's trained eyes, moved in from the right. A hand, purple tinted and sleeved in white, whistling by at a speed that belied belief. Neferpitou reached for Kite, went to grasp his shoulder to pull him out of the way. It took them that extra moment, mere milliseconds, to notice. Shaiapouf, hand darting forward in the mist and gore and darkness, was not aiming for Kite; did not have the human in his sights. Rather, he was aiming for _them._ Neferpitou picked up the ploy in an instant. Shaiapouf couldn't hurt them, certainly he could _try_ , but he would certainly find himself on the receiving end of the beating.

Kite didn't know that. _Couldn't know that._ Certainly that's what Pouf was counting on.

Neferpitou watched as their human charge did what he must have thought was right. He moved between them, taking sharpened claws and bones hard as steel. Shaiapouf's hand plunged through him, piercing his heart with a sick sound, reminiscent of a cantaloupe being dropped from some great height. Pitou had heard that sound before, had heard it even as they had rent claws through living flesh.

Now their stomach turned at the sound of it.

The human slumped forward, scythe dissipating instantly, long white hair stained that dirty maroon and sweeping along the floor in dirty tangles. Pitou heard the rattling of his breath, heard it as it left those well-shaped lips. They did not hear anything further. Only the grotesque sound of Pouf dislodging their hand from Kite's chest, the splintered bones of him catching at that white sleeve. Tearing it. Pitou managed to catch him before he struck the floor, one last indignity prevented.

Pitou held him, watching desperately for some sign of, well _anything_. They could not find it. His teeth, maroon and white, glinted between parted lips. Kites' russet eyes, those pretty brown eyes stared unseeing, unfocused and gathering the dust that fell in gentle showers from the chaos of the training floor.

Neferpitou summoned Dr.Blythe immediately. _Toy repair!That will fix him! It has to!_

Even still, Pitou's heart told them death could not be mended a second time.


	6. Exhaustion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quick reminder that Neferpitou's pronouns have always been They/Them in this story and always will be. Different pronouns are used based on character perception in this chapter alone.

Neferpitou studied their reflection in the fogged glass of the cryogenic chamber. The colors of the dim lab were murky; all dim greens and swirling yellows, and they reflected Pitou's face in ghoulish relief. It suited them, they thought. The light twisted their features, shining off too-hard skin and too-large blackened eyes, distorting them. The mottled bruises that speckled their face enhanced the effect, all of it making Pitou look like the monster they were. It was a relief, they didn't think they wanted anyone to find them beautiful ever again.   
Pitou scrubbed at the glass of the chamber, looking past the surface to study it's contents. The body. _His_ body, they knew, but something rose in PItou's chest when they thought of Kite constrained again in that tube, lifeless, bloodless, unaware. It was easier to call it the body. Their throat didn't tighten when they thought of it that way.   
They needed to focus. They couldn't afford to be distracted. 

Neferpitou limped back to their desk, nursing an ankle that they thought surely must be broken. They had kept their promise, had tried to anyway, had rushed at Shaiapouf and Youpi with a rage that they hadn't known they were capable of. Had fought with the intention to kill, wild eyed and hysterical, leaping over Kite's body to rend the royal guard to pieces with claws and teeth. Pouf had taken the worst of it, was only still living because of Youpi's interference. The damned garish bug was nursing a broken nose and an arm that seemed to bend at unnatural angles, the image of his formerly too-pretty face; puffy, bruised and bleeding litres, still gave Neferpitou satisfaction. Pitou had refused to use Dr.Blythe to heal any of them, had gritted their teeth and let them know in no uncertain terms that they deserved it, themself included, and that they could all rot away for all they cared. They were sure that the other two had assumed Pitou was upset at the loss of their plaything, at the loss of an experiment with hours spent now gone. It was safer to let them think that way.

  
They had swooped through the ranks of the hive like a red plague after Kite's second passing. Had reaped and stolen from the many twisted bodies that made up their ranks, had pried them open and taken what they needed, leaving bodies carelessly tossed about. Neferpitou knew that they were all frightened of them now, that they spoke of their presence in whispered tones and walked in groups of two or three so as not to be alone. Pitou savored the solitude this newfound reputation afforded them.   
They stooped over their desk, re-calculating numbers that they were certain had been correct the first time. Pitou wasn't sure what was wrong, where the numbers on paper diverged from the living tissue. They had found a new heart, had found plenty in fact, had wrestled them free from scrub ants that had maintained some of their human organs in re-birth. None had been successful, rather than bringing Kite back to them, the new hearts had beat strongly for just a moment or two before failing. Each time Neferpitou had managed to earn Kite more time, yet again and again they had watched the humans' eyes close in death; Frankenstein heart beating into silence.  
The last time had been the most successful, he had been back, been with them, for just a few moments it seemed, the human walking about fogged and confused for a full hour before collapsing again. That had brought them back here, back to these damned numbers and digits and anatomical studies of human bodies; loveless diagrams drawn of blank human figures. They gritted their teeth and stooped back to their work.   
...........................

When Neferpitou's next success came, it felt like anything but. 

The human was back, alive, but flawed. Fading fast in and out of himself, the light in his eyes clouding over at the most unexpected moments, the spark wavering. Pitou studied him, tools and dials clicking above him, the mans' eyes large and frightened, uncomprehending. He was alive, but for how long they did not know. His borrowed hearts burned out quickly, some sort of metabolic change in the evolution between human and Chimera Ant that Pitou could not remedy. 

They thought that maybe they could fix it, given more time, but the idea frightened them. Kite had just returned to them; not whole, nothing close to it, in fact..... but he was back in form at least. He could be held, he could stand and breathe and look at them. His eyes were clouded and different, but at least his features were the same. Pitou could pretend, could feign as though he were back and seeing them as he used to. Neferpitou shuddered at the thought of repeating the journey that had lead them here, the fine lines of the human man roughly opened and prodded by cold machine and callous tools. They had broken him and rebuilt him so many times, waiting with bated breath to see if this time it would work. Neferpitou was afraid to put him under again, afraid that this time they would lose what little of him they could salvage.   
This would have to do.   
They would be grateful for what pieces of him they had managed to save.

.......................  
He could feel his mind going. Piece by piece, lucidity found in grasping handfuls a few moments at a time. He was frightened, unsure of what he did or said for long stretches of time. He could only surface for quick lungfuls of conscious thought, crashing to cognizance like a drowning man breaking the surface. 

He would look to Neferpitou then, find their eyes concerned and focused on his, thin lines of worry drawn beneath gentle brows. 

He found it easier to comfort them than himself, lightly stroking the planes of their face. Trying to commit the gentle curves of their lips to memory, knowing he could not. 

Then he would be under again, unaware until his next gasp for air. He had no concept of time, yet it felt that these periods between waking thought grew wider, deep as yawning chasms. Days seemed to flash by in moments, the sun winking through positions in the sky as often as he blinked. 

  
He 

thought  
maybe  
there   
was something  
he forgot.

He didn't know why, he just thought so. Kite looked at the Cat Lady. She was very pretty, maybe the prettiest person in the whole world. He thought that maybe she was mad at him. He wondered why. He tried hard to be nice. He listened, he petted her hair, he always gave her the best part of his breakfast. 

  
She yelled at him a lot. He didn't like that, didn't understand why she was angry at him. The words she yelled at him made no sense, they were big words and sometimes she would shout at him to remember things he'd forgotten. He knew his memory was not good, but he hoped she would understand that one day. He didn't want her to think he was stupid, even though he thought that maybe he might be. He didn't want her to be disappointed in him like she seemed to be all the time. He would always try his very best to be good after she shouted at him, but it didn't matter. Kite wondered what he did wrong. She would look at him, breathing hard like she was mad. Sometimes she would cry too, and that was the worst. He would try to hold her, to give her a hug and to help her smile again. But she would just bite him. One time she scratched him, very deep and that had made him cry too.

That time they cried together in the cave where he lived. They cried a long time. He felt a little bit better after that. Kite wondered how long he had lived in the cave. He didn't remember living anywhere else, so he guessed he must have been born there.   
Sometimes it felt like he was nowhere. Like he was sleeping and just woke up. Sometimes he had a little twig in his hand. When he woke up holding weird stuff like that, there were always lots of little shapes in the dirt. When that happened he was very careful, walking around the shapes to call for the Cat Lady to come and look at them for him. He thought that maybe the Cat Lady could read them. His voice didn't sound right, but he could make croaking noises until she came to see him. There were lots of times when she wouldn't read what the shapes said out loud to him like he asked, but that was okay. One time he had brushed those shapes away before the Cat Lady had come, he had wanted to draw other things. He had wanted to show her what he could draw for her, thinking that maybe she might like them as much as she liked the little shapes in the dirt. He had thought he could draw better pictures than that. The Cat Lady had gotten very angry with him for that. She had hit him. She hit him on the cheek and Kite had looked at her, holding his hand over where she had hit him. It had hurt, hurt a lot because she was so strong. He thought that maybe she liked those drawings better than the ones he drew. He didn't know why, they were just little triangles and circles and lines all in a row.

He wanted to tell her that hitting wasn't very nice, but when he tried to talk, nothing came out. He thought maybe he was sick. He decided to give his voice a rest, maybe it would come back later if he was very careful and very patient. 

......................  
He was awake again. He clawed absently for something to write with, grasped a gnarled twig before his eyes were even open. This happened often. Sometimes he would manage to hold on long enough to write long messages to Neferpitou, detailed memories of their time together; writing until his back was sore from where he crouched on the grimy floor. Sometimes he would write love notes, or requests for when he was gone for good. 

Once he had simply written "Kill Me". Large letters written and underlined in the dust. They hadn't done it, and when Kite had awoken the next time he had been devastated. He didn't make that request again. Didn't dare. He didn't want to hurt Neferpitou more than he already had.

Making the most of the dim light that filtered through Purgatory, Kite wrote the following, laboriously slow and clear in the dark:

  
_"Neferpitou, this is Kite._

  
_I'm so sorry._

  
_I was too weak to be by your side. I thought I could do it, I wanted to more than anything. I failed you and I wish that you could just forget me. I would wish that we had never met, but I am selfish. I am selfish and small and though I know our time together has hurt you, I don't regret it one bit. I hope you can forgive me for that._

  
_You're beautiful. Moreso than I could ever deserve. You are the sun and my heart is heavy knowing I wasn't strong enough to be the moon to reflect your beauty._

_The king will be born soon, if he is not already. I know that you must go. I want you to know that it's okay to leave me. I want you to. I'm not the man you used to know and I cringe to guess at what you must think of me now. I lose time, and I hope that the other me is not a burden to you. I'm grateful that I can't remember what this new me is like._

  
_I wish to stay here alone, I wish that you never had to see me like this. Please honor this request; I could not ask anything more of you besides this, but I ask that you please leave me here to fade. I am vain and I hope that if you remember me, that those recollections have not been marred by the man I am now._

  
_Every moment spent together up until now has been perfect, I only wish we could have met under better circumstances. Still, I regret nothing. I would live and die one thousand times at your side. It has always been worth it._

_I can feel myself going again, and I'm sorry to leave you alone. Please forgive me._

_I LoVE You_   
_-Ki_

Kite blinked. He was holding that stick again. There were more pictures on the floor. He wondered who had drawn them. 

.....

The cat lady said she was going somewhere. She said that Kite couldn't go with her. He wondered why. He wondered if he had been bad. He hoped she would come back soon.   
Before she had gone away, the Cat Lady had made Kite a puppet. When she told him that, he had thought it was a present; he had been confused when she had put strings on him instead. They had pulled him around by his arms and legs, too rough and off balance. He had been scared at first, had tried to scream when the strings had moved him around, but the Cat Lady had been very nice to him. She had smoothed his hair and put her hands on his cheeks and talked to him until he felt better. A little more brave. They had danced together after that. He hadn't known any of the steps, but that had been okay, the strings had done all the dancing for him. They had danced slow, even though it was really dark in his cave, and she had let Kite hold her very close to him. She had been warm and had smelled really nice. He had the feeling that maybe he had held her like that before, but he couldn't remember.   
She had seemed very sad after that. Kite didn't know why, he thought that dancing was supposed to make people happy.... but maybe that was just the fast kind of dancing.   
When the Cat Lady came back he would try to ask her that. She was very smart, a _scientist!_ He was sure that she would know the answers to everything he asked. He would be very careful to not talk until then, he wanted his voice to be back when she returned. He wondered if when she came back they could dance together again. Kite resolved that he would work very hard to be a good dancer, he thought that would make the Cat Lady happy. He wanted to make her smile, he didn't think that she had ever smiled at him before.  
.....

He was tired all the time now. He wondered if he really must be sick. There was someone that was here before, but now they were gone. He wished he could remember them. He wondered what they were like. 

He was tired. 

  
_So tired._

  
He thought maybe if he closed his eyes he would feel better. 


	7. Epilogue

When Pitou found themselves looking at Kite again, in the basement of that grand house, he was already long gone. They had preserved him, had kept him warm and whole, but they knew this heart had faded away as all the others had.   
When the boy, the little boy in green that Neferpitou recalled from the forest, had asked them to heal Kite, they could only stare. 

  
They had tried. 

  
Neferpitou had decided to bid the human one last kind gift. They had lied, had lied by omission. Hadn't told the human boy or his companions that Kite had lived again after he was defeated. Neferpitou hadn't wanted his human companions to remember him as a coward. As filth for maybe loving the monster that Neferpitou was. They hadn't deserved that love anyway, had thought that maybe giving that love back to him post-mortem would lift some of the heaviness that seemed to pool in Neferpitou's limbs since he had gone. 

When the human boy had asked to fight, Neferpitou saw their chance. They were a coward, they knew, deep in their heart they twitched and skittered with fear at the idea of killing themselves. Having another do it would be a relief. 

  
_I'm so glad that I'm the one he will kill._

  
...............................................

Neferpitou gasped, sitting bolt upright in bed. The light that filtered in through the window was the buttery-yellow light of Spring; casting bright beams over their blankets. Warm quilts stitched with birds, flowers, all means of wildlife caught the sun in their threads. Neferpitou looked about, confusion giving way to relief. The room was orderly, but lived in; night stands stood at either side of the bed where they lay. A pair of reading glasses, a glass of water and a scented candle all seemed at home there. The night stand on the other side of the bed held a hair brush, a stack of books.

  
Neferpitou leaned back, mussed hair catching against the headboard. 

  
_What a strange dream....._

  
There was the rustling of slippers over tile and then the bedroom door was open, a tall figure catching the early morning light. 

  
Long silver hair was pulled into a modest bun and a coffee cup, an ugly ceramic thing covered in cartoon cats, was held in one big hand. Kite grinned around the toothbrush that was working it's way over his teeth and offered Neferpitou their cup. They took it gratefully, savoring the first sip. It was perfect, more milk and sugar than coffee; the contents of the cup the very barest of beige tones.

  
He had been making their morning coffee for so long Neferpitou doubted they even knew how to make their own coffee anymore. Kite ducked into their master bathroom to rinse his mouth and deposit his toothbrush before stepping back into sight, dabbing at his mouth with a towel. 

  
His tie, the hideous grey and pink one Neferpitou had tried time and time again to donate behind his back, was tied wrong. As it was every morning. 

  
They took another sip of their coffee before tossing their legs over the side of the bed and mincing the few feet between them. As they fixed Kite's tie, reaching up on tiptoes to reach the taller mans' neck, they caught themselves admiring the sharp angle of his jaw. 

  
_He's even handsome in this awful tie. I guess I should be grateful for his bad sense in fashion, there'd have been a lot more competition for him otherwise._

  
The thought made Pitou crack a smile, catching Kite's eye. He ducked down and gave them a chaste peck on the lips. 

  
"Is it okay if I come by and visit you at work today? We can have lunch?" The man asked, stealing the coffee mug from it's place on the night stand and taking a sip. He winced at the taste, the sugar too cloying. "The team and I have a deadline tonight for that report on the blue-eyed swan habitat. We'll be at the office too late for me to make it home for dinner."

  
Neferpitou nodded and Kite beamed, giving them another quick kiss on the forehead before grabbing his briefcase and turning to go. Neferpitou gave his ass a quick swat as he turned, Kite providing a waggle of his eyebrows in return. 

  
As Neferpitou went about their morning routine, washing their face, hurriedly grabbing scrubs and a clean white lab coat from the closet, dashing to the train before they missed it; the previous nights' dream faded. 

They were grateful, they couldn't remember quite what it was about, but it had seemed unpleasant. 


End file.
